Scientists have come up with a new idea for energy storage that would turn high-rise buildings into giant batteries, an innovation that could help improve energy quality in urban areas.
In a study published in the journal Energy, scientists have proposed a rare gravity-based idea in which the lift and vertical height of tall buildings can be used to store energy.
The idea, called Lift Energy Storage Technology (Lest), stores energy by lifting containers of wet sand or other high-density objects.
The scientists explained about this technology that Lest connects two storage areas, one in the lower part of the building while the other part was built at the top of the same building.
When elevators in buildings travel from the bottom up, the energy is stored as latent energy due to the lifting of the storage container.
In the proposed idea, when the energy demand in the building was low, the robots would load the elevator and store the energy in the upper part of the building.
The loading and unloading of the containers into the elevator was done by an automated trailer that pulled the containers from the storage space built above or below, the researchers said. That is, the trailer would enter the elevator, go up or down, exit the elevator and place the container at the storage locations.
When the energy demand increased, the weight was placed back in the elevator and sent down to create more energy.
According to researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, since elevators are already installed in buildings, the project will not require any additional investment or space allocation.
